Crime10 August, 20262 min read
Interlochen Center for the Arts In Michigan Faces Decades Of Sexual Abuse Allegations Involving Epstein
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Independent report found over 70 abuse allegations by about 50 staff affiliated with Interlochen. Epstein allegedly preyed on a student at Interlochen in 2005, involving a 16-year-old.
Abuse Allegations Exposed
An independent report released last month says the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan saw decades of sexual abuse allegations involving nearly 50 adults employed or affiliated with the school from the 1950s to the 2010s. The report describes conditions that allowed adults to have one-on-one interactions with students while children at the school had limited communication with their families and were vulnerable due to age, sexual identity and lack of experience. Paul Busch, who told NPR he was 16 when he was sexually abused by his ballet teacher at Interlochen in 2005, said, "A lot of my desire was to prove that I was enough."
Busch said the abuse left him with a sense of being targeted, calling it "this was the perfect condition" for someone to prey on him. NPR reported that the report includes allegations of sexual abuse by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and it says Epstein died in prison in 2019.
Busch’s Account and Response
Busch told NPR he spent 21 years reckoning with what happened at the Michigan boarding school and is sharing his experience publicly for the first time. He said Interlochen’s response is not enough, telling NPR, "They get to say, 'Case closed,'" and adding, "That is completely unacceptable because — guess what? — my life is still open." NPR reported that Interlochen hired Sanghavi Law Office in 2024 to investigate abuse after an alumna came forward about her experience in the 1970s regarding a longtime faculty member and administrator.
In a letter to the community released alongside the report, Interlochen said today it is "fundamentally different from the institution described in this report." The NPR account says the school described safety measures it has put in place to protect students, including a network of resources with a team of school counselors, social workers and a psychologist.
Named Staff, Legal Outcomes
NPR says the report and Interlochen’s letter to the community named three former staff members and one former trustee accused of sexual misconduct, with only one still alive: Thomas Clower. NPR reported that Clower pleaded guilty to attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, and it says he was added to a sex offender registry and fired by Interlochen. The VPM transcript says Busch was sexually abused by his ballet teacher at Interlochen and that when Interlochen released the report it named that teacher, Thomas Clower, as the only living staff member accused of misconduct.
NPR also says Clower did not respond to multiple attempts by NPR to contact him, including through his attorney, and that Interlochen would not comment on the specifics of Clower's case and its aftermath to NPR. The American Bazaar adds that the report includes sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and says Epstein’s name is mentioned 52 times in the report.